kayb

Interesting topic. Per @Porthos' definition of full-on cooking, "I cook a protein, I cook a starch from raw ingredients, I cook fresh or fresh frozen veggies, etc. They may be individual foods on a plate or a one-dish dinner, but the cooking and the seasoning was done in my kitchen," I probably cook two or three meals a week via this method (and that number varies week to week, depending on schedules). There are only two of us eating, and often it's just me, as my daughter is more picky about what she eats, and frequently eats a late lunch at work and so isn't hungry for dinner. The other nights are either leftovers, rewarmed or restyled in some other fashion, carryout, eating out or just snacking. Again, much of that is driven by schedule. Rarely do I use prepared foods (again, "prepared" as in a frozen entree, canned or frozen seasoned veggies or veggie combos), mostly because there are very few I care for. Likewise, rarely do I eat fast foods from the plethora of chain joints around town, with the exception of occasionally the hot wings joint or Taco Bell when I get in a taco mood. I cook more in the summer, when there's an abundance of fresh vegetables. I can most of my own tomatoes, and freeze lots of peas and corn and some fruit. I make all my own bread (of which we don't eat a lot), but I keep a loaf of soft white sandwich bread on hand to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the kid and the grands. I make my own granola and yogurt, which was an every day breakfast until I got out of that habit. When I cook a big chunk of protein, as in a beef roast or roasting a whole chicken, as I plan to do tomorrow, I generally do so with a rough plan as to how I'll use it in different fashions in two or three separate meals. I use my vacuum sealer a LOT to portion cooked protein, and I often make "homemade TV dinners" and freeze them in aluminum trays.

Business today took me to the old river town of Helena, Arkansas, and allowed me to come home with one of the Delta's great culinary delicacies, a dozen tamales. Delta tamales are a much different creature from the classic Mexican or TexMex ones, being made exclusively with ground pork, and seasoned with salt, black pepper and red pepper (generally cayenne) powder. These were pretty mild, which I prefer. As they should be, they were covered with cheap, canned chili and grated cheddar cheese. For absolute authenticity, they should have been accompanied by saltine crackers, but I didn't have any. I am replete.

No zucchini?

@Shelby and @Tri2Cook -- and on latkes! I actually prefer apple butter on latkes to applesauce.

I love apples stirfried and served with chicken or pork. I add them to sauerkraut (which you probably don't get in China, either...) dishes. One does not go amiss in sweet potato soup. They're a good addition to salads.

Anybody ever use this stuff? It's a beeswax-impregnated cotton cloth, allegedly designed to replace plastic wrap over containers, etc. I was intrigued enough to try it (well, with an endorsement from a cooking friend whose opinions I respect greatly). My first samples came in earlier this week, and I used one to cover a batch of proofing bread dough. Off the top, I can see my customary "cold hands" syndrome will make it more difficult for my body heat to make the wrap conform to a bowl shape; guess I'll have to rinse them in hot water first! But I do like the idea.

I think it's due to @HungryChris making such a major dent in the world's supply...

@Kim Shook -- good to see you back!

My dinner last night, per @Anna N's freezer challenge: Pulled pork enchiladas, Mexican(ish) rice, an extra tortilla with melted cheese and powdered pico de gallo seasoning, toasted in the CSO. Sort of a cheese tostada. It needed some greenery, but I had none in the house and didn't want to bother to go get any.

Makes sense. Before I moved here, changed farmers and bought my freezer, I had a "herd share," a CSA-type operation in which I purchased the equivalent of a quarter-steer annually, but then could take my beef whenever I wanted, and in whatever format I wanted. My "share" was simply a financial interest in the herd that allowed me to to email my farmer every week by Thursday, tell him what cuts and how large I wanted, and he'd bag it up and bring it to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning. I could also use my "share" to buy milk and dairy products, pork, or lamb. When I reached the (financial) end of my share, that was it until I bought a new share. In many ways, I prefer that approach. Not only does it eliminate the need for a freezer, it also means I can customize my beef order to the cuts I want, admittedly at my cost if, say, I wanted all steaks. We had to go this route instead of direct sales to walk-up traffic at the market because of regulations regarding the USDA certification level of slaughterhouses depending on whether the meat is for "personal use" or for retail sale. If I own a share of the herd, they can lump my purchases under "personal use."

Shelby uses a timed cook. I use the rice function and leave it on "keep warm" for several minutes afterward.

Best carrot cake I've ever had in my life is the one from the Silver Palate Cookbook, here. I do find the cream cheese frosting is pretty heavy. I have made it in a tube pan and made a cream cheese glaze.

Left-over scalloped potatoes also work marvelously for breakfast, with an over-easy egg on top.

They DON'T? Then where do they get it?

A lot of times it's a function of urban vs. rural (rural water users are subject to having longer pipe runs, or even shallow wells, and also subject to surface pollution from livestock waste, fertilizer, pesticide, etc.). In urban areas, the question depends on how old the water system is, how old the area of town is, how old the individual house is; the older any of the above, the more likely there are problems, like in Flint's case. Here in Arkansas, it's estimated that more than half the small-town water systems and wastewater treatment systems are of an age they will begin to experience major failure incidences in the next five years. And half the small towns in Arkansas is a big part of Arkansas, given that we've got damn few big towns. Someone pointed out earlier that bottled water can be purchased with SNAP. That needs to remain in place.

Got my intro email. Haven't looked at the first lesson yet.

I'll go. A package of frozen pulled pork (Pork) had migrated to the front of the refrigerator side-by-side freezer and had been staring at me reproachful(isly for a day or two. I pulled it out tonight, and combined it with a can of chopped green chiles from the pantry (Peppers), grated cheese, tortillas and canned enchilada sauce and made enchiladas. (I had been craving Mexican food, and it was either that or call and order carryout.) Had them with Mexican(ish) rice and a leftover tortilla sprinkled with grated leftover cheese and toasted. Needed some greenery, but I didn't have any. As an added bonus, everything was something I had on hand, which was a Good Thing, as I worked in my PJs all day and wasn't about to get dressed to go to the grocery.

Oddly enough, mine is Great Value black bean and white corn salsa, from good ol' Wally World. Grate up some cheese in it and go. It's about the only edible I buy at WalMart.

Never happen. For my comment upthread re: soft drink lobby, just read "sugar lobby." Much to be said for that. Much to be said for THAT, too! ETA (because I just read the last page of the thread): I agree with several comments upthread that childhood hunger IS often the result of parental thoughtlessness or indifference. No matter. It's not the kid's fault. We should feed EVERY kid, not punish them for having a sorry set of parents ("Sorry" in this case being used in the colloquial sense of "not worth a damn and should never have reproduced.) It's not the child's fault he was born. If he's not capable of providing his own food, society ought to feed him, just because it's the humane thing to do.

Oh, goody. Will have to go by my Aldi and check. Haven't seen it up to now.

I use either fresh, homecanned, or in a pinch, grocery store diced tomatoes. Saute onion and garlic. Add sherry, cook down by a third. Add tomatoes. Depending on how liquid it is and how liquid you want it, add chicken stock to thin (I guess you could use veggie stock, or even water, if you wished). Add lots of fresh basil. Simmer a few minutes, puree, then return to heat and add heavy cream or yogurt; rewarm but don't boil.

Tri2Cook, I dearly love paprikash, but have never found a recipe I like to make it at home. Could you share one? This looks lovely. Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. That looks absolutely marvelous, and I could cheerfully dive right into it. As someone who has never made her own pasta, beyond gnocchi, I have occasionally cheated by using egg roll/won ton wrappers to make ravioli, tortellini and such. I did ravioli with a somewhat similar filling once -- butternut squash and goat cheese -- boiled it and then pan-fried them crisp, before drizzling with a brown butter/sage sauce. Very good, but labor-intensive.

Makes perfect sense. I always think of polenta/grits as being boiled, while I'm used to hushpuppy batter being raw when it's fried. Or broiled, as the case may be. Wheels are turning on potential recipes/methods. Polenta (if stone-ground, a bit coarser meal). Both derive their flavor mostly from what's added to/served with them. Traditional Southern breakfast grits are boiled with water or milk or a combo, and salt, finished with butter, salt and pepper, served with bacon, eggs and gravy. My personal preference is for an over-easy egg perched on top of a mound of grits. The most common iteration is cheese grits, with any of multitudinous varieties of cheese added. Hot peppers of any description are a frequent addition. There are all sorts of grits-based casseroles. My very favorite breakfast grits dish is a layer of cheese grits in the bottom of a ramekin, with a couple of eggs cracked on top, some chopped bacon, and a couple of tablespoons of cream. Into a 350 oven for 12 minutes or so. Ouefs en cocotte, on a bed of cheese grits.

Have just recently learned about Pinetree and am impressed. I suspect I'll order from them. I have a good, sunny window in which to start seedlings.

Adding to one thing @quiet1 mentions, and I forgot to, is "food deserts," vast areas where access to good grocery stores just does not exist. These are both in rural areas -- there are any number of places within an hour of me that don't have a grocery store within 10-15 miles and many of the poor don't have a car, but also in cities, where some neighborhoods have no groceries within walking distance and mass transit, if it exists, sucks. Big swaths of communities have no food outlets except convenience stores and, in the South, Dollar General. And a big portion of what either offers is, guess what, junk food. Certainly no produce or fresh meat. @DiggingDogFarm, I completely agree on the rotissere chicken. Much healthier, and more meals per buck. I really don't think I'd have a big issue with soft drinks being excluded, other than the fact it feels like shaming the poor. Not that that's going to go anywhere, anyway; soft drink lobby's too big. WIC is a very different program from SNAP. It is narrowly targeted at children, and limited to a specific, narrow list of foods, like formula, milk, cereal, fruit, cheese, etc. If it still works the way it used to, clients receive product-specific vouchers entitling them to certain amounts of formula, milk, fruit, juice, etc.